The present invention relates to coffee makers and more particularly to an electric heating device having two heating elements for a coffee maker for increasing a temperature of hot water leaving an outlet.
A heating device for a coffee maker or water dispenser is well known. A conventional electric heating device 30 for a coffee maker is shown in FIG. 1 in which a portion of a cold-water supply line 20 connected to the bottom of a water tank 10 is contacted by the electric heating device 30 so that water flowing through the cold-water supply line 20 can be heated. The heated water is then fed to a hot-water supply line 40 prior to leaving an outlet 50.
However, the prior art suffered from a disadvantage. For example, the hot-water supply line 40 may be relatively long so that temperature of the heated water leaving the outlet 50 may drop significantly because there is no insulation around the hot-water supply line 40 for keeping the temperature of water leaving the outlet 50 at almost the same as that measured at the start of the hot-water supply line 40. In other words, the water is not as hot as expected. Thus, the need for improvement exists.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an electric heating device for a coffee maker having a water tank and a water pipe coupled to the bottom of the water tank, the pipe including a cold-water supply section, a first heating section, a first hot-water supply section, a second auxiliary heating section, and a second hot-water supply section having an outlet. The heating device comprises a first heating element contacting the first heating section; and a second heating element contacting the second auxiliary heating section. Water flowing from the water tank to the first heating section via the cold-water supply section is first heated by the first heating element. The heated water flows in turn from the first heating section to the second auxiliary heating section via the first hot-water supply section for being further heated by the second heating element. Finally, the further heated water is fed to the second hot-water supply section prior to leaving the outlet. By utilizing the invention, a temperature of water leaving the outlet can be kept at an acceptably high level.